MODERN EGYPT AND THEBES: Being a Description of Egypt; Including the Information Required for Travellers in that Country.

First edition, first printing. Author's presentation copy. Two volumes. 8vo. Publisher's original dark olive green blind-stamped cloth with titles in gilt to the spines. Page edges untrimmed. Illustrated with a large folding map to volume one and numerous in-text woodcuts throughout both volumes. Small binder's ticket for Remnant and Edmonds, London to the rear pastedown of volume one. A very good set indeed, the bindings square and firm with a few faint splash marks to the boards and a little wear to the spine ends. The contents, with a touch of minor cracking to the hinges here and there, spotting to the endpapers and the odd dot of foxing to page margins, are otherwise in very good order and clean throughout. The folding map with a little toning otherwise remains clean and crisp. An excellent example.

Inscribed in black ink to front free endpaper of volume one "From the Author". A splendid copy of this exploration of historic and contemporary Egypt by Sir John Gardner Wilkinson (1797-1875), the English traveller, writer and pioneer Egyptologist, often referred to as "the Father of British Egyptology". Wilkinson first arrived in Egypt in October 1821 at the age of 24, remaining in the country for a further 12 years, during which time he visited virtually every known ancient Egyptian site, copying and recording inscriptions and paintings with great skill and compiling copious scholarly notes. After returning to England in 1833, he went on to publish his research in a number of well-received works and was soon elected a member of the Royal Society. In addition to his 'The Topography of Thebes and General View of Egypt' (1835), Wilkinson's most significant work was 'Manners and Customs of the Ancient Egyptians'. First published in three volumes in 1837 and subsequently illustrated by Joseph Bonomi, the work stood as the best general treatment of ancient Egyptian history and culture for the next half century. Acclaim for this publication and others brought Wilkinson a knighthood in 1839 and ensured his position as one of the pre-eminent Egyptologists of his age. The present work forms an incredibly detailed account of life in Egypt during the mid-nineteenth century, in part serving as a comprehensive compendium of information for travellers to the country. It also includes sections on Egypt's history, modern vocabularies and an introductory guide to reading hieroglyphics. A condensed version of the work later formed the first edition of Murray's Handbook for Travellers in Egypt (1847).